


Something New

by dogramagra



Category: That was Then This is Now - S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders - All Media Types, The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23389666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogramagra/pseuds/dogramagra
Summary: Angela’s never really met anyone like Cathy before. She likes it.
Relationships: Cathy Carlson/Angela Shepard, Ponyboy Curtis/Curly Shepard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 45





	Something New

**Author's Note:**

> curly shepard says lesbian rights (and is stupid)

Angela Shepard didn’t think she’d ever see Cathy Carlson again, but sometimes life doesn’t go the way you expect it to. She heard that Ponyboy and Cathy got together after she broke up with Bryon, then she heard that they broke up, then she heard that they were still real good friends. That didn’t make sense to her, and she didn’t really believe it until Curly showed up with both of them at their house. 

Goddamn Curly. He sure didn’t have the most common sense, and Angela knew that, but she didn’t think he’d be dumb enough to bring the ex-girlfriend of the guy who had cut all her hair off and the guy who had refused to acknowledge her existence. At least, not at the same time. Curly had been hanging around the littlest Curtis brother a lot more lately, so that was no surprise, and she would’ve been fine with it if it wasn’t for Cathy too. She was going to absolutely kill Curly when they left. 

For now, though, she’d keep her composure. She had a feeling that those two already didn’t think too highly of her, and there was no reason to lose her temper in front of them. She was a little different from her brothers, in that sense—if she really needed to, she could control herself. Tim and Curly had a harder time. 

She decided she was going to stay in her room until they were gone, and it would have been fine if Curly wasn’t so damn loud. He was cracking jokes like he always did, but the thing was, he had no volume control. Angela was convinced that he really couldn’t tell when he was being loud or quiet, and he didn’t know when to shut up either. Every couple minutes or so, she’d hear Curly say something stupid and two particularly obnoxious laughs following. 

Most of the jokes were directed towards Ponyboy. Angela had a feeling her brother liked Pony a bit more than a friendly way, but she wasn’t going to ask him about it. She was still pissed about being ignored. She also had a feeling that Pony didn’t realize Curly was into him either—that boy sure could be dense sometimes, for someone who’s supposed to be so smart and all. She thought that maybe they’d be good for each other, since they’re both idiots.

Angela heard Cathy say something and wondered if she knew Curly had tried to jump her brother. 

Anyway, she was starting to get a headache. She really didn’t want to go into the kitchen, but she didn’t have any Tylenol in her room, and she’s not a huge fan of being in pain. She sat for a little while longer, contemplating, but when she heard Curly’s loud mouth again she thought she was going to lose her mind. She got up. It was a straight shot from her room to the kitchen, so she should be able to get there without having to talk to anyone.

Should be able to, but wasn’t. As soon as Angela opened the cabinet, Cathy Carlson decided she was thirsty.

“Hey, Curly, do you have anything to drink? I’m a little thirsty,” she asked. 

“Oh, yeah, we have water and I think some milk.” He answered, and of course he wasn’t going to volunteer to get it for her. “We probably got more alcohol than anythin’,  
though, but I don’t think that’s what you’re lookin’ for.” 

He wasn’t lying, but he said it in that joking voice of his, so Ponyboy laughed. Cathy didn’t seem to think it as funny though. 

“Definitely not.” She sounded annoyed, but it was Curly. Who wouldn’t be annoyed with him? Angela almost felt a little sympathy for her. Almost. 

She heard some rustling and figured it was Cathy getting up. Dammit. Well, there really wasn’t anything she could have done about it, so she just grabbed the Tylenol and went to get a cup. Cathy walked in before she was able to get the cup out of the cabinet.

“Oh, you’re Angela, right? We met at the dance, I think.” She sounded surprised. She probably wasn’t counting on seeing Angela again, but she was in her house, so, you know. 

“Yeah, that’s me.” Angela made her voice monotone as could be.

“Oh!” Something clicked. “You’re Curly’s sister? Gosh, I feel stupid now, you two look so much alike.” 

Well, that explains it. Curly didn’t even tell her that Angela existed. What a great brother he was, really. 

“Yeah, we’re twins. I mean, we’re fraternal, but we still look pretty similar. I look better, though.” 

Cathy laughed. “Your hair looks really good, by the way. I could never pull off short hair like that, but it looks amazing on you.”

Angela froze for a second. She knew Cathy was being genuine, but she still didn’t like anyone commenting on her hair, especially Cathy, since she had dated the guy who’d cut it off. Angela wondered if maybe she knew Bryon had done it, and she was bringing it up to make Angela mad. She hadn’t liked Angela when they met before; maybe this was all just fake friendliness. 

“Thanks,” she said, and smiled. “I needed a change. All that hair was a lot to handle.” 

Angela decided that Cathy wasn’t that bad a person. She seemed too innocent for that anyway, too real. She may have been dating Bryon, but she wasn’t a greaser or a hood or even anything close.

“Yeah, I can imagine.” She smiled back. “Hey, uh, where are your cups? I actually came in here to get some water.”

“They’re right up here,” Angela said,  
opening the cabinet and getting out two cups. “I was gettin’ some water, too. Got a headache.”

“Oh, well, I hope you get to feeling better,” she said, grabbing the cup Angela held out to her. 

“Yeah, I will when my brother shuts his giant mouth.” Angela filled her cup up halfway and grabbed the Tylenol. 

“He sure is a handful.” Cathy was trying to be as nice as possible without insulting her brother. She really shouldn’t have. 

Angela snorted. “That’s one way to put it. Anyway, see ya around, Cathy.”

“You too,” Cathy said. Angela had already started walking back to her room. 

She took three Tylenol and laid back down on her bed. Okay, so, Cathy wasn’t too terrible. That could’ve been worse. She still didn’t like her, though. Angela didn't think Cathy was all that fond of her either, even if she could act like she was. 

She never did get around to telling off Curly, and that wasn’t the last time he brought Cathy to their house. Angela actually started coming out of her room when Cathy was around, and it wasn’t too bad. She was a sweet girl, really, even if they had gotten off on the wrong foot. Angela started to like her.

Angela liked the way Cathy dressed. It wasn’t anything like the way Angela did—she was a greaser girl and Cathy wasn’t. She’d wear these bright-colored jeans and skirts and cute little matching tops. Angela would never wear it, but she always thought it looked good on Cathy. It was odd, because Angela usually didn’t talk to people like Cathy. She was new. 

Cathy had started calling her Angie. The only nickname Angela had ever gotten was Angel, and that had been from her brothers. She’d never had a friend call her by a nickname before. It felt nice. It felt really, really nice, but Angela would never tell Cathy that. She was too tough for things like that. Still, she felt soft when Cathy would greet her with, “Hi, Angie!” and smile at her like she’s the sun. 

After a while, it wasn’t Curly bringing Cathy around anymore. It was Angela. 

Sometimes they’d walk home together after school and sit in Angela’s room. Cathy didn’t like to bring Angela to her house, something about her dad being kind of rude and her having way too many siblings. Angela wouldn’t have really minded either of those things—it’s not like her house was much different—but Cathy still didn’t bring her around too much. 

One of those days, Angela was doing Cathy’s hair. Her hair was dark and long, and it was beautiful. Angela thought Cathy must take care of it real well, because it was the softest hair she’d ever felt. She could run her fingers through it forever. Then, though, she was giving Cathy a French braid. She was kind of surprised Cathy didn’t know how to do one. 

“You can’t French braid?” She asked. She’d taught herself, since her mom didn’t care to. 

Cathy looked kind of embarrassed. “I’m really bad with hair. My mom is too, so maybe it runs in the family.” 

Angela smiled. “I could braid it for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I love doin’ hair. I do Curly’s sometimes, when he’ll let me. God, his is a mess.”

Cathy cringed a bit. “I wouldn’t want to touch that.”

“I make him wash it first,” Angela said, and laughed. 

So, she was braiding Cathy’s hair. It was nice, a lot nicer than doing Curly’s. Her hair was thick, and it was longer than Angela’s had ever been, so it took a while. When she was finally done, she told Cathy to turn around so she could make sure it looked good. 

It looked really good. Angela reached forward to pull out a few stray hairs, make them frame her face. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was thinking when her hands wandered down to cup Cathy’s face, and she didn't know what was going through her head when she leaned forward and kissed her. She’s glad she did though. Cathy started to kiss back, but Curly Shepard decided to bust into the room at that very moment. 

“Hey, Ang- Oh, shit.” 

Angela and Cathy jumped back like they’d been shocked. 

“Jesus, Curly, knock first!” Angela yelled. 

“Shit, I didn’t know! I was just gonna tell ya I have a girl over an’-“ 

Ponyboy Curtis popped his head into the doorway. “What’s goin’ on? Oh, hey Cathy.”

“A girl?” Angela raised an eyebrow. 

It was Curly’s turn to be embarrassed.

“I have a girl, not you.” Angela said. 

“I know. I know that, Angela. Christ, just don’t come in my room.”

“Don’t come in mine, then.”

“Deal.”

Curly closed the door, and Angela turned to Cathy, whose face was red as a tomato. 

“I love my brother, I do, but sometimes…” Angela trailed off.

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Cathy said, and she kissed Angela. That was fine by her.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading i hope you liked it!! <3 this wasn’t that serious of a fic and it was pretty short but i’m gonna start working on another purly fic now mwah
> 
> kudos and comments are really appreciated!!


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